Our organization agrees with many
diverse groups that an effective long-term plan is needed to save
the natural Everglades. Sugarcane farming in the Everglades
Agricultural Area (EAA) and a sustainable Everglades should not
be viewed as two opposing forces. The two are inextricably
linked; conceptually, a sustainable agriculture in the EAA and a
sustainable Everglades ecosystem are interdependent. We recognize
that both the natural Everglades and the farmers in the EAA face
many challenges to become both compatible and sustainable in the
future.

FACTS CONCERNING THE FLORIDA
SUGAR INDUSTRY

BACKGROUND:

Sugarcane is a grass grown primarily for its
sugar (sucrose) content. This field crop has been grown
commercially in southern Florida since the 1920s and is one of
the most economically important crops in the state.

Approximately 450,000 acres are grown annually,
primarily around the lower half of Lake Okeechobee. The proximity
to the lake is important in that it offers some cold protection
to the tender cane during occasional harsh winter weather.

SUGARCANE, MOST SUITABLE FOR THE EAA

Sugarcane planting and harvesting operations
are conducted during the fall and winter. This period is
typically drier than the summer months. Thus, sugarcane culture
is in harmony with the South Florida climate. The cool, dry fall
and winter months are good for plant emergence and mature
sugarcane ripening.

Once established, sugarcane is far more water
tolerant than leafy vegetables or sweet corn. This becomes an
asset for summer water management practices. Area farms store
water during surplus rainfall periods by maintaining higher water
tables in sugarcane fields, flooding vacant vegetable and
sugarcane fields, or growing paddy rice. This good soil
conservation practice is also a very effective best management
practice for phosphorus reduction.

Water that is managed by area farmers is
monitored for quantity and quality, and reports are submitted to
the South Florida Water Management District monthly. All farmers
have responded well under regulatory action and made commendable
gains in the management of this valuable and essential resource.
EAA farms have achieved a 71% across the board reduction in
phosphorus levels in the water discharged from the EAA according
to a recent report from the South Florida Water Management
District. This reduction exceeds the 25% annual goal required for
the entire EAA basin by Florida's Everglades Forever Act.

SUGARCANE USES FERTILIZER EFFICIENTLY

Sugarcane requires only one half the amount of
phosphorus needed for sweet corn, one third the amount needed for
celery, and only one quarter the amount needed for lettuce.

Sugarcane, like any other plant, requires
nutrients for optimum growth. In the EAA, nutrients are provided
for plant uptake from rainfall, irrigation water, the organic
soils, and supplemental fertilizer. Research by the University of
Florida to determine adequate levels of nutrient elements
necessary for sugarcane production began in1929. Early research
showed that the high levels of phosphorus needed for vegetable
production reduced the amount of sugar in the cane stalk. Since
then, numerous research studies based on yield responses have
established the guidelines currently used for fertilizer rates.

Research studies by Coale et. al. (Agron. J.
85:310-315) showed that sugarcane biomass removes more phosphorus
from the soil than the amount applied as fertilizer. This
indicates that the sugarcane plant uses not only fertilizer
phosphorus but also residual and naturally occurring phosphorus
as well.

In another study, Izuno et. al. (Agricultural
Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Phosphorus Loading Reduction
in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), IFAS, U of F,
11/29/90) showed that less phosphorus was found in drainage water
from fertilized sugarcane fields than in the drainage water from
adjacent non-fertilized fallow fields.

ROTATION: A NUTRIENT, SOIL CONSERVATION, AND
PEST MANAGEMENT TOOL

Sugarcane is planted in rotation with rice,
sod, spring and fall sweet corn, radishes, and other assorted
vegetables. To maximize the efficient use of plant nutrients in
the soil, a rotation from higher to lower fertility requiring
crops is normally practiced.

A typical production plan would be for a sweet
corn or vegetable crop (9 months to several years) to be followed
by one or two sugarcane crops (3-8 years). These would be
followed by a summer rice crop. This rotation not only maximizes
the use of residual fertilizer, but also follows a decreasing
intensity of drainage and pest management requirements.

SUGARCANE IN FLORIDA RECEIVES
RELATIVELY LITTLE PESTICIDE

Sugarcane in Florida requires a minimum amount
of pesticides. There are several reasons why this is the case.
First, sugarcane is relatively tolerant to damage by most pest
species. This is especially true with respect to pests which
attack foliage. Taking advantage of this tolerance, sugarcane
growers have successfully implemented natural control strategies
for most pests.

For control of plant diseases, no fungicides
(pesticides used specifically for fungal pathogens) are applied by
sugarcane growers in Florida. Resistant sugarcane varieties are
the single-most important management strategy for the control of
bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases.

Natural control of insect pests through the
preservation and encouragement of insect parasitoids and predators is
recognized as an important tactic of integrated pest management
(IPM) . For insects and mite pests of sugarcane, biological
control (using predators, parasites, and other beneficial
organisms to control pests) has been an outstanding management
strategy.

Insect parasites are among the most valuable
biological control agents, but a number of common predators are
also important. These include earwigs, lacewings, lady beetles,
fire ants, and ground beetles, as well as birds such as the
cattle egret. Years of cooperative research by private industry,
the USDA and the University of Florida, have been conducted to
boost biological controls. One large sugarcane company has
developed a system for growing beneficial insects and releasing
them as a substitute for pesticides to control one of the most
important insect pests.

While EPA-approved insecticides may
occasionally be required, the use of chemicals in Florida
sugarcane is best described as limited. For example, recent
estimates indicated that more than 80% of the sugarcane in
Florida is often grown without receiving a single foliar
pesticide application for insects, mites, or diseases over the
course of an entire year.

EAA AMBIENT AIR MONITORING

The Palm Beach County Health Department and the
Florida sugar industry have conducted programs of air quality
monitoring in the EAA since the late 1960's. These programs are
designed to monitor particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and ozone
under sampling protocol and regulations of the U. S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection.

Air quality in the EAA is well within state and
federal air quality standards and is comparable to both the
statewide and coastal Palm Beach County averages.

Palm Beach County Health Department
measurements show that less than 2% of the airborne particulate
matter measured at their five monitoring stations is from
agricultural origins.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE GROUPS WORK TO SUSTAIN
AGRICULTURE

Public and private sugarcane breeding programs
have focused on cultivated sugarcane varieties with high yields and disease
resistance. Varieties originating in the EAA have substantially
improved sugar production in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Latin
America, and other regions throughout the world.

Geneticists and agronomists are currently
broadening their programs to seek varieties that are even more
phosphorus efficient and are more tolerant to high water tables.
The phosphorus research is two-pronged; isolate the ability to
achieve high yields with less phosphorus fertilizer, and select
for the ability to remove more phosphorus from the soil.

Research and commercial conditions in the EAA,
and other countries, have shown that sugarcane tolerates
short-term floods, and that this characteristic could be
genetically improved. More water-tolerant sugarcane would have
side benefits of enhancing soil conservation efforts and further
reduce phosphorus runoff from EAA soils.

AT THE FACTORIES

In Florida, the sugar mills process
approximately 17,000,000 tons of sugar cane, from which about 2,000,000 tons of raw sugar and about
100 million gallons of black
strap molasses are produced each year. Raw sugar is used by
refineries to produce refined sugar.

Chemically classified as a carbohydrate, sugar
is a natural energy source. Black strap molasses is normally used
for cattle feed or as a feed-stock in the production of alcohol,
a renewable fuel.

The production of sugar from cane involves
several well established processes: extraction, clarification,
evaporation, crystallization, and mechanical separation. None
of these processes involve the use of hazardous or
environmentally undesirable materials. Current emphasis in
the industry is towards improved process control and efficiency.

At the grinding station, juice is extracted by
crushing the cane through a series of three or four roll mills.
The fiber residue left from grinding the cane, bagasse, is sent
to the boilers as fuel. Using bagasse as the renewable fuel makes
Florida sugar cane processing operations almost energy
self-sufficient.

With the modern boilers now in use, the sugar
industry produces a surplus of energy, available as electric
power to domestic and industrial users. Flue gas generated during
boiler operations has a higher moisture content because the
bagasse itself is a moist material. This helps to produce a very
clean stack gas which is in compliance with all local and federal
clean air laws.

Fuel biomass, bagasse, is almost entirely plant
material. The ash from this biomass can be used as fertilizer due to it's high
mineral content. Once these materials have been returned to the
cane field, a very natural cycle has been completed.

Clarification of the juice is normally carried
out with the help of lime and heat in cylindrical tanks.
Clarified juice and a precipitate are obtained. This insoluble
precipitate, comprised of field soil and plant material, is
filtered out and retained in ponds for eventual return to
production fields. Again, this completes a natural cycle.

The clarified juice is concentrated in
evaporators and seeded with fine sugar powder to serve as nuclei
for the sugar crystals. Finally, the crystals, raw sugar, are
separated from their surrounding molasses by centrifugal force
and sent to storage or to cane sugar refineries.

QUALITY CONTROL IN THE FLORIDA SUGAR
INDUSTRY IS STATE-OF-THE ART

The United States cane sugar industry has much
more regulatory control than almost all foreign suppliers of
sugar. These regulations impact many aspects of operations,
including cane production, construction of new equipment and
facilities, worker safety, and the environment. If rationally
conceived and implemented, such ordinances are desirable for the
industry to be a good citizen and neighbor.

Compared to many over-seas milling operations,
Florida sugar mill technologists have successfully created a safe
and environmentally compatible industry.